Climate Change Concerts
Gore announces climate change concerts
By MICHAEL R. BLOOD, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 57 minutes ago
LOS ANGELES -
Al Gore announced on Thursday a series of worldwide concerts to focus on the threat of climate change, with a powerhouse lineup from the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Snoop Dogg to Bon Jovi.
ADVERTISEMENTThe 24-hour event on July 7 is part of a campaign, Save Our Selves — The Campaign for a Climate in Crisis, that promoters hope will trigger a broad movement to address what the former vice president calls a global climate crisis.
I’m going to be a major downer here and say I hate this. I hate it. Not the idea that billions need to be reached about climate change, but the actual implications of this concert series.
“Promoters said the Live Earth concerts will take place in Shanghai, China; Johannesburg, South Africa; Sydney, Australia; London and cities to be announced in Japan, Brazil and the United States.” How will the artists get to these places? Jet planes, which contribute to global warming.
Will there be concessions sold? You betcha. What will the water be packaged in? Plastic, made from hydrocarbons, which contribute to global warming and clog landfills. What will the various bags of potato chips etc be served in? Mylar, a hydrocarbon. What will power the amplifiers, lights, and sound system? Electricity. Will it be generated by solar or wind power? A little of it. How will the people get to the concerts? In their cars, most of them not hybrids.
And I haven’t even gotten to all the promotional materials, swag, and everything else involved.
Outside of the message, everything about these concerts will contribute to global warming. Not to pop a hole in anybody’s balloon, but duh.
5 Responses to “Climate Change Concerts”
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February 16th, 2007 at 6:48 am
Gore uses a private jet to promote his movie, which calls into question his personal commitment to living a “carbon neutral lifestyle.”
But there’s another problem with these concerts: politically-aware concert promotion doesn’t generally lead to a change of mind among concert-goers. Bruce Springsteen played across the country in an effort to elect Kerry, yet the exit polls from his shows indicated that his fans’ minds weren’t changed–in fact, the soapbox character of the concerts was the one thing the fans found annoying. (Sorry, I’m too lazy to look up the links.) No one’s mind appears to have been changed as a result of The Boss’s advocacy.
Suffice it to say that there are better ways to promote change.
February 16th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
I don’t think Springsteen’s series was actually to change people’s minds: this country was WAY split down the middle in 2004, and people’s minds were already made up. I think the whole point of springsteen’s shows was A) to raise money for Kerry, and B) to energize new voters to C) vote for Kerry. It wasn’t about changing minds per se. I don’t have the links either, but in any event it was ineffective.
My main problem besides the wastefulness of these kinds of concerts is that it always comes across as some fake-ass corporate expression. Live-8? Please: that whole circus made me want to hurl, all the self-indulgence. And the CEOs get to brag that “we’ve done our part, here have a fruitopia.”
None of this, by the way, is to reject the central points of Inconvenient Truth, just to reject this particular campaign.
February 16th, 2007 at 9:08 pm
These concerts always have the same effect that misguided parents have when they try to be hip: “Hey you kids! We speak your language! So get involved just like those cool guys in Pearl Jam!” At which point the only sensible thing for a kid to do is scoff at their ham-handedness, sell his copy of Vitalogy to the local CD store and make plans to spend Election Day playing Grand Theft Auto.
I’m less bothered by the corporateness of it. Corporations have lots of money, and this shows that they are parting with at least some of it for the promotion of a cause that has the potential to undermine their profit margins. But I don’t think for a second that it’s rock n’ roll.
I also want to hurl when I see a rock star patting himself on the back for being such a wonderful guy and promoting a cause that is invariably uncontroversial in his insular little world. “Wow, Melissa Etheridge is an environmentalist! Who knew?” Please.
Say what you will about Johnny Ramone, at least he managed to be outspoken in a way that didn’t pander to his fans.
February 16th, 2007 at 9:09 pm
These concerts always have the same effect that misguided parents have when they try to be hip: “Hey you kids! We speak your language! So get involved just like those cool guys in Pearl Jam!” At which point the only sensible thing for a kid to do is scoff at their ham-handedness, sell his copy of Vitalogy to the local CD store and make plans to spend Election Day playing Grand Theft Auto.
I’m less bothered by the corporateness of it. Corporations have lots of money, and this shows that they are parting with at least some of it for the promotion of a cause that has the potential to undermine their profit margins. But I don’t think for a second that it’s rock n’ roll.
I also want to hurl when I see a rock star patting himself on the back for being such a wonderful guy and promoting a cause that is invariably uncontroversial in his insular little world. “Wow, Melissa Etheridge is an environmentalist! Who knew?” Please.
Say what you will about Johnny Ramone, at least he managed to be outspoken in a way that didn’t pander to his fans or make him look like he was taking the easy way out while pretending to be thoughtful.
February 16th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
These concerts always have the same effect that misguided parents have when they try to be hip: “Hey you kids! We speak your language! So get involved just like those cool guys in Pearl Jam!â€
Well, yes and no. Yes, when it comes to these live 8, climate change, etc concerts. No, when it comes to smaller concerts: I played at least 2 of the concerts for Kerry in Philadelphia (maybe three, but I forget), turnout was good, voters got registered, and money was raised. So it depends. And BTW, I feel the same way about those godawful Lollapalooza tours. It’s corporate rock and it stinks.
Corporations have lots of money, and this shows that they are parting with at least some of it for the promotion of a cause that has the potential to undermine their profit margins.
Actually, one of the things that impressed me about Gore’s flick was how he showed that energy efficiency is actually a money maker. He uses the example of the declining US auto industry, and how outr cars don’t sell in masive markets like China and Europe because we don’t come close to meeting their emissions standards. If we were to make more hybrids/ high efficiency vehicles, we’d be able to sell in more overseas markets. Instead, we’re doing the equivalent of the Brits insistence that the passenger side is where the steering wheel goes.
I won’t say anything bad about Johnny Ramone cus I’m a punk rocker, even if I do disagree strongly with Johnny’s reaganite politics. But as for “I also want to hurl when I see a rock star patting himself on the back for being such a wonderful guy and promoting a cause that is invariably uncontroversial in his insular little world”, again it depends. The fact is rock stars and actors and all the other creative types do serve as role models to some extent, and I’d much rather see a potential role model passing on a positive message than the “bling bitches hos” i tend to see emblazoned on children’s clothes (what kind of mom dresses her 5-year old daughter in a belly shirt and sweat pants that read “juicy” on the ass? Apparently, quite a few in Philadelphia).
That said, Sting has no business tryign to be hip. No business at all. He needs to go away.